A Canoodling Of Convienence
by S. Mark Gunther
Summary: Todd and Tabitha hook up when everyone else forgets about them. What they can't see is the storm to result from their coupling. Rated for explicit moments.
1. First Time Sex

A Canoodling Of Convenience  
By S. Mark Gunther 

_When I'm sure  
I don't know why but I feel so insecure  
And when it comes  
It comes like a great big lull  
But either way  
I don't know why but I get so crazy  
And all the thoughts get twisted in knots  
  
When I'm home  
I don't know why but I feel so all alone  
And then you come barring down like an atom bomb  
And I want to, but I want to  
But I want to, but I feel all inside out  
But I want to, but I want to  
But I want to, but I feel all inside out  
  
Everywhere you turn  
There's always something there  
And all the time you're getting nowhere  
Everywhere I don't know why but I get so crazy  
And all the thoughts get twisted in knots  
-- from 'Longwave - Everywhere You Turn'_

* * *

Tabitha could not believe her situation. It was frustrating to say the least. She sat in a pilfered vehicle with Kitty, Kurt, Amanda and Rouge, bound for the Brotherhood house and she didn't have a date. Tabitha Smith looked out a window and couldn't fathom why she, Tabitha, was left out of the loop. She also didn't like that Amanda and Kurt were in the back seat with her and they just wouldn't stop prattling on and on. Tabitha still felt, deep inside, that she should have been with Kurt and the idea that she had to share space with Amanda, the one who took him from her, infuriated her. But she also remembered the pleadings of Rouge and Kitty to help them sway the Professor into letting them go. Being a good friend, she agreed. She sighed inwardly as she felt that she might leave early and get all the rest in trouble just for spite. A smile crept on her face at the idea that she'd give them all a week's Danger Room as payback.

Soon she decided against ditching as they arrived at the Brotherhood house. All of them exited quickly save Tabitha who saw a lone figure sitting out on the front porch. She walked to him and saw who it was with no small sense or recognition and understanding.

"Hey, Toddie."

"Hey Boom-Boom."

"What's going on in there?"

"The usual bull. They're gearing up for movies and smooching and things that don't involve someone like me, so I decided to sit outside for a few hours. Lance tried to get me to come in but Pietro and John nixed that pretty good." Todd looked past Tabitha into the distance, his face forlorn and tired. Tabitha could see that he'd been crying that day and she didn't like that.

"So John kicked you out with Pietro's help?"

"Sort of. They suggested I should go and take my whining somewhere else because it was going to damper the mood. When I said no, Wanda backed them up by tossing me out the door. Lance tried to get them to change their mind but it doesn't really matter." Todd looked at Tabitha and smiled a little. "You know, I hate love."

"Tell me about it," Tabitha echoed softly as she sat on the porch next to him.

"No, Tabitha, I don't think you get it, yo. All these nights I've had to deal with John and Wanda's humping down the hall from me has made me hate love. It's made me want to cut my own throat just silence their noise. The last week and a half has been the closest I've ever come to wanting to die, honestly. If this is what love does to a person then so be it. But I'm not having anymore part of it." Todd stopped to take a breath and saw that Tabitha was merely looking at him with a somber look on her face, a look not normally seen on her. He wondered for a moment if he should go on and then decided that it really didn't matter anyway. "Every day I deal with this is another day I forget who I was and begin to see who I am now. I've walked through hell for Wanda and all she can do is date someone like John."

"And you're angry?"

"No. Just glad."

"Glad for what?"

"I'm glad I don't want to love anymore. I'm glad that when I see a pretty girl all I want is sex and maybe a little more. I don't want to give it all up anymore because there isn't anyone willing to go as far as I wanted to."

"So all you want is a fuck buddy, then?"

"All I want is to find someone who needs to use me just as much as I need to use them. I want someone who wants me without illusions."

"A fuck buddy."

"Yeah, yo. For lack of a better term, a fuck buddy. Right now that's about all I can deal with and it's what I want." Todd looked at Tabitha and noticed that her voice had lost most, if not all, of its original luster and sheen as she spoke to him. "Does that bother you, Tabby?"

The few seconds that followed would burn themselves into Todd's brain for the rest of his life. On his deathbed at the hands of a vengeful and incredibly spiteful Magnus Lensherr he would see the replay of those seconds, those minutes, those hours like a lullaby of madness and miracles. He'd wake up at night when he was alone in his 40's and living in a hovel in Scotland's highlands and remember the times as when he figured that he was the most alive, the most dangerous, and the most impassioned. The next few moments would define the insanity of the next decade as only such events could have. For Tabitha, however, the action she took was just another in a long list of things that she did to fulfill a need. For once, however, she smiled inside as she found what she had been looking for so long. She had found someone who really did get what love and affection was all about: a platform for getting your needs met whatever they may have been.

Tabitha turned and took Todd's head in her hands and she planted a long tender kiss on his lips. She held it there for a moment and licked the bare inside of his lips, tasting the slightly sweet saliva that was, truth be told, rather sticky but very appealing once you got used to it. She pulled back and let a little trail of saliva go from his lips to hers and hand like a red thread. Todd looked at her with shock and then, while watching her eyes, got it. He figured it out inside of himself and brought her closer to her, kissing her hard and strong and scared. His body slid closer to hers and they locked bodies and arms as if they were both sinking into dark and icy waters.

For 9 minutes, they kissed. No words were spoken because no words were needed. No explanations were offered because the act they were sharing had no rational basis; it was lust and need and desire and want and hate and passion and pain and hurt and all the other emotions wrapped up into one combustible package. Todd could hear so many arguments in the back of his head as to why he shouldn't be in Tabitha's embrace and they all fell silent at the urgings of his penis and his still bleeding broken heart. Tabitha's small, but evident, moral center was demanding that she stop her slutty ways and close her legs for life while the rest of her body, craving affection and attention and love of all sorts, decided to get what it could while it could and worry about the rest later. They finally pulled back and looked at one another, their bodies needing rest and air. Todd's cheeks were red and extremely sparkled with sweat and he wiped at the corners involuntarily, a sheepish grin on his face. Tabitha hung her head a little but her smile was bright and clear, much similar to the first time she had really found what she had been looking for in Kurt.

"Whoa."

"Yeah, greenie. Whoa."

"I mean...whoa..." At that, Tabitha chuckled girlishly for a moment. She realized now even more why she had been attracted here. Though Kurt was inside the house, she had found someone who was even more tender, even deeper, even more extreme then big blue there because where Kurt merely wanted to do the best he could as best he could, Todd was striving to find someone to love on his own terms. He was changing from the little brother she had once known and she knew this as she touched his cheek. He responded in kind, his fingertips lightly moistened with liquid. A soft wind rustled their hair and told them, intuitively that night was deepening. "Do you, um..."

"What?"

"Do you...want to go to my room and make out?"

"Sure." At that, Tabitha stood to her feet and held her hands out to help Todd up. Todd took them and stood on the top step, just a little taller then her in the final analysis. He pulled her to him and with a smooth motion scooped her into his arms. A light giggle escaped her lips as she was vaulted in Todd's arms from the front porch to the tree across the way then to the rooftop. Todd set her down for a moment and opened his window. They both climbed into his room and sat down on the bed. Tabitha looked about the room as Todd closed the window. It was messy to be sure but not nearly as dirty as she imagined it was. In fact she noticed that it was less dirty and messier, like a 16 year old boy's room would be. She wasn't the neatest soul in the world but she also had the added advantage of living light; she didn't do a lot of knick-knack collecting.

"You know what really bothers me, Tabitha?" Todd said, unexpectedly, his body in night profile as he stood facing the window.

"What?"

"When I talk to people about Wanda and about my need for love, everyone assumes I'm just a kid and that my desires are just so immature. Or that I'm too ugly for anyone. I just get forgotten about. I don't like being forgotten."

"Nor do I. It's why I kissed you. You were finally speaking my language."

"Finally? What you mean, yo?" Todd asked as he half turned to see what Tabitha meant. Tabitha looked up at him and noticed what only a few girls ever saw; that when he was standing full, he was nothing but legs and ass. One relatively massive bum matched with a pair of smoothly toned legs. Of course, seeing this from Todd's pants wasn't easy but the profile helped matters for her. Todd saw her in the dim light of his room and wondered just why Kurt had left Tabitha behind when he saw nothing that special about Amanda.

"Everyone around here is so infatuated with the idea of love that they just can't see that people are either attracted to the pretty or the exotic. No one is really that interested in the ugly and I'm just as ugly as everyone thinks you are."

"Everyone thinks I'm ugly, yo?" Todd asked softly.

"It's gone around like that. But I never saw you like that. It's why, at the dance, I was with you and Fred. You both are beautiful and wonderful and no one sees that. It's why I wanted Lance...but he never wanted me." At that, Tabitha's head dropped. "It's why I wanted Kurt but everyone thought he was pretty and I couldn't deal with that. Or he couldn't deal with me being as ugly as I am."

"You're not ugly."

"Not on the outside, maybe. But on the inside I'm ugly as hell. I accept that. But what I will not accept is that because I'm ugly I have to be forgotten about as well." She looked at him with naked desire on her face. "You're forgotten. I'm forgotten. Let's remember each other right now."

"So this is just because we're both forgotten about, Tabitha? This is all because we're not loved, yo?" Todd asked as he came closer to her, his need for release clashing with his need for clarity. "Do you just want this because you're bored or lonely?"

"I want this because you want someone who knows what it's less about love and more about utility. I want someone I can use to fill this hole inside of me and I want to be used to fill a hole in someone else." She smiled at him then, a crooked and twisted smile, a smile of someone really, really sad inside. "You can fill the hole inside of me, Todd. The question is do you want me to fill the hole inside of you?"

"I do still want love, Tabitha...deep down..." Todd said, hesitant as the ramifications on what he was looking at began to hit him. "I...I do still want love later on...what if this..."

"No what ifs, Todd. Please." She drew him close and kissed him on the lips. They kissed for a moment and she pulled back to look him full on the face. "You tried love with Wanda and they treated you like a child. Fuck love. Let's live for our needs, now."

Todd responded by kissing her back and pushing her onto the soft bed. They grinded and groaned and moaned and wrestled against one another. Todd drew his long tongue down her neck and upper chest, ripping apart the soft material of her skimpy blouse in his need for release. Tabitha tugged fruitlessly at Todd's pants as their lip locking resumed. Soon they were both in just their underwear, sitting cross-legged and looking at one another with desire. A pause in the action was needed as Todd brought something up that worried him.

"Tabby, I..."

"What is it, froggie?"

"I...I'm still a virgin."

"Is that a problem?"

"Is it for you?"

"Not really. I'm still a virgin as well, Todd."

"But I thought...I thought..." Todd stammered as he touched her chest softly with a fingertip.

"You thought I was a slut who just got it on with everyone, Todd?" Tabitha asked in a neutral voice.

"No. Not that," Todd shook hid his head violently and slid his hand away. "I did think that you had gone somewhere with someone. It was the only way you'd have been as...as sexual as you were when you were here." Todd looked up as Tabitha reached out and placed his hand back on her chest.

"Todd, I teased Kurt and I teased Lance and neither of them bit. I may know what sex is and what it's all about but I've never done it. It was just something to be able to use over someone's head. A bit of power. But with you...I get the feeling you're a lot like me. Know it all...just have not done it."

"Yeah..." Todd said softly, his impish grin coming on his face.

"...so let's teach each other how to lust."

* * *

"Todd! Todd!!" Tabitha briefly rose from her post-coital nap to stumble to the door, casting a backwards glance at her new fuck buddy curled up in a small ball, a thin smile on his lips. She slid her eyes down his body and shivered with delight. Who knew a fellow virgin could give her such pleasure...and such a feeling of being complete? She stuck her head out the door and looked at Pietro.

"He's sleeping, speedy. Can I help you?"

"Oh. We were just trying to find you...um..."

"Yes?"

"Your crew wants to go. They sent me to find you...and Todd..."

"Oh. Ok. I'll be down in a few moments."

"Yes, Pietro?"

"Did you and Todd do something in his room?"

"Yes, Pietro. We had a long conversation and then a long, sweaty fuck fest. I'll be downstairs in a moment." At that she slammed the door in his face and went to begin retrieving her clothes. Todd woke as she was beginning to dress again and rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on, hun?"

"I got to go. The rest of the crew is waiting for me."

"Oh." Todd slid out of bed and stood up, his nakedness seeming both very old and very young in the dim light. He picked up a pair of boxers from the floor and slid them on then went to the door. "When you're ready to go, I'll walk you down."

"Don't you want to get a little more dressed first?" Tabitha asked with a smile.

"Fuck them. I've got you and I want to be half naked now. They'll just have to deal with it."

"As you wish froggie." She finished dressing and walked out the door, kissing Todd on the forehead as she did so. They walked down the stairs hand in hand and stopped at the base to see an entire house looking at them like they were carrying a new disease. Tabitha was the first to react, as usual. "See something you like?"

"Not really, Sheila," John responded. Wanda sighed and placed a hand over John's mouth to stop him but he shrugged her off and continued to speak. "I always figured you for a tart but I never knew you'd be so desperate to stoop to the little wart there."

"And what would you know about that, noodle dork?" Tabitha smiled meanly as she wrapped her arms around Todd. "You've not lived till you've had someone who actually touches you like someone who wants a good roll in the bed. And, from what I've heard, Wanda may well be the one rolling you, you git."

"WHAT???!!!" Wanda and John both screamed.

"Guys, please. We have to go," Amanda said loudly. "I'm going to get into trouble if I'm late."

"Especially if your dad found out that you were dating fuzzy behind his back, yo. I'll bet he'd confine you so long you'd go crazy dreaming about burying your face in his fur..." Todd said with a sleazy smirk, licking gently at Tabitha's tummy. Tabitha giggled and swatted playfully at the pale green boy which gave everyone, save Lance, a real taste of the gags.

"Look, let's just go. We'll be late too if we wait much longer," Kurt said as calmly as he could. The rest all nodded and walked out with thinly veiled disgust on their faces, again save Lance. Tabitha turned to Todd and kissed him on the cheek softly.

"I'll call you tonight, ok, froggie?"

"Sure thing, hottie." They kissed again and just like that Todd was treated to an awesome shot of Tabitha walking away with her ass gently rolling in her jeans. Soon the mansion denizens were gone and only the Brotherhood was there to deal with the still glazed looking Todd. John, again, had the misfortune of speaking first.

"Once a tart, always a tart..."

"Of course. That's why you're dating Wanda, I guess." At that John grabbed Todd by his arm and shook him strongly.

"Want to say that again, you slime ball?"

"What I meant to say was...that you're dating Wanda because in the long run a tart is too good for you..." Todd smiled at this just before John's fist came into contact with his nose. He was slammed back into the banister and John setup to encircle the green boy with a ring of fire.

"We're about to have ourselves some frog legs on the barby!!!" John screamed as he sparked his lighters. But nothing happened. He looked down and saw that Wanda had hexed the nozzles shut with a wave and her fingers sparkled with blue energy.

"No we're not, John. Lance and I are going to talk to Todd and the rest of you are getting the hell out of here," Wanda said softly. John tried to speak and his mouth was hexed shut and he was thrown bodily into the hall closet. Pietro and Fred wisely slunk out of the room leaving just the three to talk. Todd stood back up and walked to a position opposite the two of his leaders, his neck hurting slightly from the blow John had given him. Blood streamed from his face but he made no attempt to wipe up the mess.

"Todd did you and Tabitha have sex while we were down here?" Lance asked a neutral look on his face.

"Yeah. We did, yo."

"Did you and her use protection?"

"She's on the patch. She showed it to me before things got to far along," Todd responded, He knew that at this point he should be frightened at this line of questioning but he really just didn't care. He remembered her moaning and biting his neck at the apex of their interaction and he figured that if he could remember that moment for the rest of his life, he could deal with anything.

"That's fine, at least."

"I get the feeling that you both don't like me because of what I've done with Tabby, yo." At that, Lance let his gaze soften a little while Wanda kept her very pissed off look on her face.

"I just don't want Tabitha to use you. So long as she doesn't do that, I've got no problem with you and her being together. Once you're done with Wanda, I'll clean you up." Lance turned and went to the kitchen without another word. At this, Wanda began to speak, her voice very angry but also...hurt.

"Todd, why?"

"Why what, Wanda?"

"Why did you have to sleep with...with her?"

"I needed to fill a hole inside of me. She did as well. We fit each other's needs, Wanda," Todd responded as he finally wiped at the blood flow on his chest. Wanda just watched him as he wiped absently at the blood from his nose. "Besides, I couldn't wait for someone like you when you hurt me, especially when you found someone who liked hurting me just as much as you did, apparently."

"I didn't like hurting you, Todd..."

"Then why did you push me away?"

"Because...because you were not who I was looking for. John is."

"And so John is the one who's making you happy?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you asking me why did I sleep with Tabitha? You don't have the right to ask me why I did something when I didn't have the right to ask you why you wouldn't give me a chance." Todd walked closer to Wanda and looked at her strongly. "You can do to me as you like but you can't ask me things like this anymore and expect an answer. I'm not your little tag-along, yo. Not anymore."

"I'm asking because...because I don't want to see you hurt by her. You did save my life once," Wanda said softly.

"I'm using her for my needs and she's using me for mine. We're using each other and so what. So what? If I'm hurt again, so be it. But I'm a big boy now, Wanda. I'm here for me and me alone." He walked away from her and walked into the kitchen to get his face and nose taped up. Wanda just watched him go for a long time, ignoring the screaming of her trapped boyfriend to wonder just what had happened to her little nuisance.

* * *

The car stopped at the Xavier Mansion and Tabitha got out first, her face painted with a large smile and a glowing set of cheeks. Kurt almost immediately bampfed away to his room, leaving Rouge and Kitty to talk about what they had witnessed.

"Whoa," Kitty said softly.

"Yeah," Rouge answered softly.

"I never knew..."

"I never knew that Kurt still had some light feelings for Tabitha."

"Neither did I. I never thought Tabitha and Todd would get together like that." Kitty shook her head softly and looked at Tabitha's slow walk to her room. "This isn't going to end well, Rogue."

"Maybe it will...who knows?"

Kurt stood in front of Tabitha's room, his face dark and angry. Tabitha saw him and walked up to him with a sweet smile on his face. "I guess I triggered something, eh blue?"

"Tabitha...you...you're such a..."

"A what, Kurt? What am I?" Tabitha asked softly "A slut? A skank? A user?"

"You...you did that just to hurt me, Tabitha. Me and Amanda, you did that to us!" He was breathing heavily and looked as if he wanted to slap her hard. Tabitha stepped forward and placed a hand on his cheek. He slapped it away and she gently slapped him. The shock of the blow was enough to stop Kurt in his tracks emotionally.

"Kurt, if I wanted to hurt you and that girl you run with I could have done that a long time ago. Todd and me are us filling needs in each other. Todd is someone I can depend on, I'm going to be someone who can love him and treat him right for who he is." She kissed his cheek softly and opened her door. "Kurt, I loved you and you broke up with me because I didn't fit your needs. How can you be angry at me because I'm not going to hide that someone does fit mine?"

As the door closed she didn't get a chance to hear him whisper in reply, "I'm angry at you because I just can't move on, dammit..."

* * *

**A/N: **Wow. Such a delay in my work. Sadness. But still. This little lump fell out of me because this is a part of my life now, the whole fuck buddy thing. I needed a vehicle for this expression but I also needed to get over this writer's block I've been having.

This story might offend some people but as my loyal fans know about me is that I'm going to write these romantic stories as real as I can and as gritty as I can. I do Dark WAFF. It's what I do and I think I do it well. it's now up to you to judge. Give me feedback one way or another but please say something about this story.

I might do another part but honestly, this might just stand alone until my other stories get more love. I've been fighting this writer's block thing so hard that sometimes it makes me tired. But I'm writing again a lot more often and hopefully more will happen. So please review.


	2. Love, Maybe

_ "That tiny room at the beach was absolutely the perfect place for my first time. When we came together, I could feel the hairs growing on my chest. I saw my future. I saw my past. For a few minutes it was like being alive. They lived happily ever after. All my questions had been answered. All my fears disappeared. All that was left was a kiss. Every move we made was a kiss."  
---originally from 'Boards Of Canada - Sixtyniner'_

* * *

The next morning, Todd woke up and slid out of his bed with a sleepy smile. He reached up and touched the wad of gauze in his nose and remembered the night before. For a moment he wondered what would happen to him when everyone else figured out what had happened between Tabitha and him. He could still hear her voice wishing him goodnight and telling him that Logan, smelling his scent on her, had gone somewhat ballistic and threatened to give her and the rest 5 hours of Danger Room sessions as punishment. He also noted that Logan had told him, through Tabitha that he was to come to the X-Mansion for a 'talk'.

Rising out of his bed, he wondered if this was, in fact, going to be the last day of his life as he knew it. Tabitha's scent lingered with him like a fog and he liked her a lot...a lot more then he wanted to admit. But he also knew that John hated both he and Tabitha, that Kurt was far more angry then he appeared to be and that Wanda was showing emotions he didn't know she had had for him. The last thought in this particular string worried Todd as he had seen Wanda look almost everything in the emotional spectrum but never jealous. Never. He shook off the mounting fear in his mind and decided to get his meeting with Logan over with as soon as possible. He went to the bathroom and took a long shower, deciding on a late afternoon meeting between him and Logan.

* * *

"Oh, calm down Badger. He'll be here. He just called me to say so," Tabitha said as she calmly sat in a chair in one of the side studies of the mansion. She watched as Logan paced about the room, concentrating on a small patch of area in front of a window. The sunlight showed off the full profile of the short but intimidating father figure of the mansion and he had a single claw extended on each hand to show how angry he was. "Besides, it's no big deal. We just had sex."

"No big deal?! No big deal???!! With him, you did that??!" Logan growled with a venomous tone. He turned and looked at Tabitha with a surprisingly caring look on his face, despite his excessive anger. "You could do so much better them him, Tabitha."

"No, I can't. And that's the point. He's the one I want right now and maybe for good."

"But why him?? He doesn't shower, he's slime, and he's a hoodlum..."

"And he knows what it's like to be hurt by someone he might have loved." Tabitha let her voice drop a little as she spoke. "Todd is someone I figured could fill the hole inside of me. He did and he does. I think about him so much because I've finally found someone who gets what I feel. I'm not giving him up without a fight. He's a hood like me and I like him for that."

"I still don't like it. I don't like him and I don't like this at all." Logan harrumphed and turned to the window again as he heard a small click and the door hinges creak as Todd stepped into the room. He turned around partially after a few moments to find that Tabitha had gone to the divan on the other side of the room and was now sitting with her head on Todd's shoulder, her hands wrapped gently around his tummy. "You know why I called you here, Frog-boy?"

"I think I have an idea, yo," Todd answered, his face still somewhat swollen from taking John's punch. He involuntarily rubbed at his cheek for a moment and then continued to caress his new lover with his hands idly. "I also get the feeling that you don't like me being involved with Tabitha."

"Frankly, frog-boy, I hate the idea that you weaseled your way into Tabitha's pants but what's done is done. What I want to know is what you're going to do now that you've done all this," Logan said in a stern tone. Todd slid out of Tabitha's grasp and kissed her on the cheek softly to let her know all was well. He then sat up straight and tall, for him anyway, and looked Logan dead in the eye with a very serious expression on his face.

"I'm going to be Tabitha's man. That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to let you, Professor Xavier or anyone else say what I can and cannot do here because only one person's opinion matters." Todd looked over at Tabitha who smiled and pressed a kiss into her hand then pressed the hand onto Todd's cheek. He smiled back and looked at Logan with a hard look on his face. "I've waited this long for someone to take a chance on me and I'm not letting go. I can't let go."

"...Even if I said if I'd personally beat the bad out of you if you didn't stop seeing Tabitha?" Logan asked, his claws extending fully now, glinting in the sunlight. Tabitha rose to yell something but Todd pulled her back down and shushed her with a fingertip on the lips.

"Even if you killed me, I wouldn't. I want what I want and I want who I want. Tabitha is who and what I want and I'm going to get what I want for once. I just don't care about anyone else except me and her. So your threats mean nothing to me. You want to hurt me, yo? Do your worst. The swelling in my face is from John punching me last night for being with Tabitha. I've been beaten and hurt all my life so it doesn't faze me anymore. Want to hurt me for this, Wolverine? Want to kill me for defiling an X-Man? Step right up. I just don't care anymore. I'm no longer afraid to die because I'm already dead inside, except for Tabitha." Todd spoke with a voice both incredibly impassioned and incredibly dead neutral. His eyes shone with unshed tears but his expression was of someone fully ready to die for what they believed in. He looked like he had already accepted his fate and was now just trying to make the best of what he could. Logan saw all this and for a moment flashed back to other moments in his life when he was at the place where he saw Todd now. Tabitha looked at Todd with equal parts wonder, fear and desire as she heard Todd speak his true feelings. "Tabitha gave me something to fight for again and I'm not letting go. So you can take your threats and kiss off, yo."

"I'm not threatening you, bub. I'm just trying to figure out what this is all about," Logan replied slowly, his mind beginning to dial back his anger as he recognized the extreme nature of Todd's words. "Tabitha is one of us and you've fought us in the past."

"But the past is just that; the past. I'm not a Brotherhood member exclusively anymore. I'm not even a mutant exclusively anymore. All I can be is me and all I can do is start again. I want Tabitha to be a part of my life," Todd replied, squeezing Tabitha's hand softly. Logan grunted and turned back to the window to look out.

"Get out," Logan growled after a few moments more thought.

"What?!" Tabitha exclaimed, her mind trying to follow everything that had just gone down.

"Todd, get up and go off with Tabitha. If I hear you've hurt her I'll kill you where you stand but if you haven't, I'll let it go. Just watch yourself, bub. And get out." Both teens nodded, grateful for the sudden exit line and both stood and quickly left the room. As the door slipped shut, Logan sat down in the chair and put his head in his hands. He sighed as the memory of Todd's eyes made him slightly cringe. Being a parent sucked but being a parent of a kid who was dating someone who wasn't afraid to die was worse.

* * *

Todd and Tabitha walked out and proceeded to walk out to the front gate. They held each others hand and didn't say anything until they reached the gate. Tabitha turned and looked at Todd with full, clear eyes, her face saturated with emotions.

"Todd?"

"Yeah, Tabby?"

"Was what you said true in there?"

"What did I say that wasn't?" Todd replied with a rye smile but he slid it off his face when he saw Tabitha's face not change at his joke. He stepped back a little and leaned against a near wall, his own eyes beginning to cloud over a little. "What do you mean, Tabitha?"

"You said I've given you something to fight for, Todd. Is that true?"

"Yeah. It is. For the first time in a long time, I woke up with the feeling that someone liked me. I wasn't just chasing after anyone, yo. You like me. It's something worth fighting for." Todd shrugged and looked at Tabitha with both desire and concern on his face. "Does my admitting that bother you?"

"A little." Tabitha cleared her throat and looked down for a moment. "I just had to deal with a lot of people telling me yesterday and today that you weren't good for me. That we being together was wrong and we should stop it before it got further was all they said."

"They meaning the other X-Men."

"Yeah. But..."

"But what, yo?"

"But I don't want to lose you if you feel like that for me." Tabitha lifted her head and looked at Todd with concern in her eyes. "Todd...I...I don't want this to be a fling, or us to be fuck buddies. I sat up last night alone and I thought about some things."

"About me?"

"About you, me, us. All of it. I..." Tabitha leaned against the wall standing just to Todd's right, her hand sliding into his and her fingers clasping about his with a swift motion. Todd clasped her hand in the same motion and they looked out at the X-Mansion holding each other with one hand. "We moved way too fast, you and me. What we did was beautiful, Todd..."

"But you don't want to think that all I want you for is a fuck and a shoulder, right?" Todd asked, his body not moving at all as he stared off into the distance.

"Right." Tabitha stroked up and down Todd's arm with a light touch and she continued to speak softly. "So many people hate the idea of me and you being together and I have no idea why. I just want to know that you want me for more."

"I see." At that Todd slid out of Tabitha's hand and stepped in front of her. Tabitha looked down at him and saw that his eyes were moist and ready to burst and she reached out to hug him but he held her arms off while still holding her gaze to him. Moments passed as he just stared at the girl he had developed a growing crush for, his mind trying to find the right things to say. "Tabitha?"

"What, Todd?"

"Can you accept the fact that I have a really big crush on you and that I'd like to love you one day?" At that he smiled and hugged her tightly around the waist. She responded by quietly hugging him back and gripping at his hair. The two of them just held each other in the mid-afternoon sun for a long time before letting go. Tabitha smiled down at her man and ruffled his hair with her fingertips.

"I can accept that if you accept that I really, really, really like you, Todd Tolensky," Tabitha said softly as her hands continued to caress Todd's soft skin. He nodded at this and kisses her lips very softly. They held the kiss for a long time then separated. "I'd better go. More explaining to do at home," Tabitha breathed.

"Well, I'll call you tonight. Ok?"

"Ok." At that, Tabitha gave Todd another kiss and then walked off again, her hips swaying and rolling gently as she walked. Todd turned and walked away, not wanting to see anything but the memory of Tabitha's smile as he told her he had a crush for her big time. Tabitha walked into the mansion as if her feet were traveling on the lightest of clouds. She couldn't help but smile as she thought that she had finally found someone she could have.

* * *

"I just don't like it," Kurt said frustrated. He sat with his back to a bookcase as he looked at Kitty and Rogue talking about the night previous. He snapped his tail to and fro and looked about, annoyed at the world. "He's just not good for her. Or she for him."

"Oh stop it, Kurt," Rogue chided good-naturedly. "It'll be good for Todd to date someone who isn't going to hex blast him for eating a fly. Besides, Tabitha seemed really happy with him last night, so what's the big deal?"

"Yeah, I mean, Tabitha really seemed much calmer after she was with Todd. And you're going out with Amanda, so why should it matter?" Kitty asked as she reached out to pat-pat Kurt's hand. Kurt drew back with a bit of a hiss and harrumphed as he looked out of the window. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out so he closed it and went back into mega-sulk.

"You know what I think it is?" Rogue said to Kitty.

"What?" Kitty answered.

"I think Kurt is jealous of the idea of Tabitha going out with anyone else."

"So do I!" responded Kitty as she clapped her hands with glee. The girls both giggled as Kurt turned a massive shade of red and stood up, ready to go.

"I am not jealous of her!!" Kurt exclaimed as he sat back down in his chair. "I'm just worried that Todd will hurt her. She's still my friend and I don't want to see her hurt by him."

"It's nice to see you care, blue, but it's a bit too late. He's already asked to become my boyfriend," Tabitha said with a broad smile as she stood in the doorway of the room watching them. Kurt saw the amused and contented look in her eyes and he burned with very unresolved pain and anger, his face flushing over. In an instant he teleported out of the room, unable to trust himself for restraint any longer. The girls looked at the cloud with a bit of an amused smirk as Tabitha sat down and smiled some more. "Well. Maybe this is for the best."

"What do you mean?" Rogue asked softly.

"Todd's asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted." Tabitha smiled triumphantly and clapped her hands as Rogue smiled with a knowing look. Both Rogue and Kitty understood what it was really all about with dating someone on the "wrong" side and they cheered inwardly as someone else took the plunge. "He might not seem it...but he's just..."

"He's what you want." Kitty smiled at Tabitha and nodded. "Lance and I couldn't define for a long time what drew us to each other but we knew we wanted each other. I guess that's all that matters."

"I'd sure like for Kurt to see that," Tabitha said as he smile dropped a little. "I know he still likes me but he let me go for someone who fit his needs. Why is he so angry that I'd move on to someone else?"

"It's not that you've moved on that bothers him," Rogue said, "It's that you've gotten together with Todd. He really doesn't like Todd at all and I can't say I totally blame him for feeling like he does. But he is wrong to doubt your judgment about your situation."

"But I don't want to hurt him by doing this," Tabitha said softly. Kitty took Tabitha's hand into hers and smiled.

"You won't. Just give him time."

* * *

Todd finished the last few footsteps into his house without incident. He did, however, come into contact with a very annoyed John Allerdyce who was standing at the front door waiting for him.

"We've much to talk about, mate," John said in a very uninviting voice.

"No we don't, Pyro," Todd said as he pushed past him to go to his room. "I'm going to go and take a shower then take a nap while you do whatever it is you do. I've got nothing to say to you, yo."

"Yes you do, Toad," John answered back acidly as he grabbed Todd's arm, pulling him back. Todd responded by giving John a swift kick to the ribs and a sharp elbow right in the top of the neck. With just two movements, John Allerdyce lay unconscious on the floor of the Brotherhood house and a very pissed off Todd Tolensky stood over him for a moment.

"No. We don't," Todd said to John's now unconscious body as he turned and walked up the stairs. He got near the top and was about to turn to go to his room when he heard a knock at the door. He hopped back downstairs and opened the door to see a very angry Kurt Wagner standing there, his image inducer not on and his full blue persona showing in the late afternoon sun. With a long sigh he opened the door and smirked. "Hi, Kurt. Are you going to try and beat me up too?"

"What?" Kurt answered back, his anger being temporarily tempered by the curiosity in hearing Todd's words.

"John tried to talk to me about something and he wouldn't leave me alone so I smacked him good. He's lying right there, yo," Todd said with a wide smile as he stepped to the side to reveal the Australian blonde lying spread eagle on the floor. Todd then stepped back into Kurt's full sight and placed his hands on his hips, trying to show Kurt just what he was going to get into if he tried anything with him today. "Now, will you accept that I don't really have anything to say to you or anyone else right now?"

"No, because I only have 2 questions for you." Todd shook his head and smirked at Kurt's response. He decided to hear the blue boy out, if for no other reason then to keep Tabitha's housemates happy.

"Fine. I'll listen," Todd said as he leaned against the doorjamb, a relaxed look on his face. "But you'll have to be quick. Talking to Claws has made me want to take a long shower and a nap before Tabitha's phone call later."

"Why did you and her do what you did, Toad?" Kurt asked angrily. "What did you do to her to get her like that?"

"Like what, Kurt? And I'll remind you, yo, that my name is Todd, not 'Toad'," Todd calmly replied, his face never changing expression.

"What did you slip in her drink to get her to have sex with you?"

"...I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Todd replied as his fists formed into little angry balls while his face stayed decidedly calm, "And say that she started things and let me finish them for now, at least. I didn't do anything to her except maybe listen to her and give her what she wanted."

"I won't let you hurt her, Todd," Kurt said as his body assumed a battle stance. Todd took a deep breath and decided to try and stop the entire situation before it spiraled out of control.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Kurt. I...I love her..." At those words, Todd finally changed expression and let his face fall a little as he admitted to someone else what he had been denying all day. "I mean, I want to love her...and I think I do..."

"What makes you think you're good for her?"

"What makes you think you have the right to be her father, Kurt?" Todd answered back angrily, finally letting his frustration at the situation show through. "You dumped her, Kurt. You left her for Amanda. In my mind, you have no right to say a fucking word, so don't talk to me like I'm less then you when I'm doing for her what you can't."

"And what's that?" Kurt asked, his voice going dangerously soft.

"I love her just as she is and I don't care if she changes or not. I want to love her just as she is flaws and all. She likes me like that and it's all I can do to do the same." At Todd's words, Kurt stepped back and fell silent. He could hear something very hopeful in Todd's words and it was all he could do to stay angry at him. In fact he recognized just how honest the feelings in Todd's words were and it floored him that things could develop that fast with someone he still liked. But then he remembered his first time being with Tabitha and he knew what Todd was saying and feeling. A shudder passed through his body and he turned partially away so he wouldn't show Todd just how much the memories in his head were affecting him.

"You really like her, don't you..."

"Yeah, fuzzy. I do."

"You do know I still...I still had feelings for her a little?"

"You still do."

"How do you know?" Kurt asked bitterly.

"You wouldn't have reacted as you did if you didn't." Kurt looked at Todd and saw that the frog boy had a surprisingly understanding look on his face. No rancor, no triumph, just genuine concern for him. The shame he felt for his actions made him turn away even more till he stood with his back to Todd. "I know what you're feeling. It's part of the reason why John's lying on the floor there."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I know that I going out with Tabitha may hurt you because you never let go of someone you care about. But eventually we all have to move on. I know I did and still do...I just didn't know you still had feelings for Tabitha, Kurt. I'm sorry I'm hurting you, but I have to move on from Wanda and you have to move on from Tabitha."

"I know I do," Kurt said as he turned back to face his rival, "But it's hard."

"It isn't supposed to be easy. Kurt. But you do have someone to go to."

"I know...but how do I explain this to Amanda?" Kurt said softly. "We talked last night and I let it slip that I didn't want you with her because you weren't right for her and she thinks now that I want to leave her for Tabitha."

"Just tell her that you thought about things and figured out that she is the one for you," Todd said. "It shouldn't take much. Just be honest, admit you were wrong, and beg forgiveness. Girls like that." At that he smiled and patted Kurt on the shoulder. Kurt shrugged off the hand and turned to walk off without a word.

"Just do me one favor," Kurt said over his shoulder as he walked off.

"Sure."

"Don't break her heart. If you don't, I'll come after you." At that Kurt teleported away, leaving a smirking and head shaking Todd to look at the spot where he disappeared from with mirth.

'Apparently that's the threat of the day around here,' Todd thought as he closed the door and walked upstairs to take a shower and a nap, stepping over John's still unconscious body to do so.

* * *

** A/N: **This was an odd chapter to write. Writing how Kurt reacted to Todd and Tabitha's sexlove is difficult in the best circumstances, but I think I pulled it off. Some notes:  
**1. **The quote from the song in the beginning of this part is one part of a song by the seminal electronic band, Boards Of Canada. When I was trying to get the lyrics for this part, these struck me as the perfect ones for the aftermath of the first section. Get the song and listen to it to understand what I mean as you read.  
**2. **More John grumpiness will happen along with finally seeing what Wanda's reaction to all this is. All this goodness in the next chapter.  
**3. **I want votes: more schmoop about Todd/Tabitha or a hardcore sex scene? (Only for viewers, BTW. peeps will see just a little bit of stuff.)  
**4. **Review! Please! I'm begging you. Updates on my other works are coming soon but only with some reviews on this one. Review!! :D 


End file.
